


NULL

by alice_dualswordlesbian



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game), Katana ZERO (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Angst With A Bittersweet Ending, Blood, Character Death, DISCLAIMER: Despite what the E tag implies there is NO sex in this au., Drug Use, F/F, Futuristic, Gore, Graphic Violence, Heavy Angst, Murder, Swearing, none. - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:47:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27981753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alice_dualswordlesbian/pseuds/alice_dualswordlesbian
Summary: (CW: Excessive amounts of Graphic Violence, Character Deaths, Drug Usage (including needles). Depictions of suicide, suicidal ideation, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and panic attacks. Some homophobia, misogyny and transphobia.)So, that is the story behind the ghost-whisperer.But tell me... how did you end up meeting her?......I see.Then let's start at the beginning.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 0 - Silhouette

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! I will be very upfront and say that if graphic violence and character death are not your cup of tea, you will not enjoy this fic. This is way, way darker than most of the stuff i put out, so don't feel obligated to read it. Also, if you think I've missed a potentially sensitive tag that should be added to this fic, please feel free to let me know, because I want this to be tagged appropriately.
> 
> Also, extra disclaimer: If you haven't played Katana:ZERO, this fic will immediately spoil several elements of its story and plot that the game does not reveal to you upfront. Because of the way Katana:ZERO's constructed as a video game, it is essentially _impossible_ to replicate its storytelling when writing it as a fic. So if you have any interest in playing Katana:ZERO, I'd highly recommend doing it before reading this fic; it's honestly a mostly fantastic game anyway, so it's well worth the time spent (the same CWs I've applied to this fic also apply to the game).
> 
> (twit: @akorinkolesbian)

**SSHHHRK!**

A silenced scream.

Her katana, right through their chest, holding their body to the wall. She watches as red splatters out, staining her clothes and the shimmering floor. Every second of it.

"...kkhg... gkk..."

Blood drips from her hoodie.

"..."

...They stop moving.

When the head slumps, her expression doesn't change. She casually removes her blade from the corpse.

_thump_

...Ah, there's another one down below. "Here's a gift."

She picks the corpse up and tosses it through the window.

_crash!!!_

_THUMP_

"...! H-hey! Are you alr-"

...

...

...

_pitter patter pitter patter_

...She looks at the sky. "It's raining..."

_pitter patter pitter patter_

The roof covers her head. She's standing in a decrepit office, looking out through the broken windows as the teardrops fall over New Mecca's 3rd District. Waiting for them to pass.

"No... y-you're fine. You told me so many stories. You've survived tougher shit than this, h-haven't you? Please, wake up... please...!"

...

...

...

...

...They're gone.

She moves again, and falls. 

Solid ground.

"...!"

When she stands up, she's outside, breathing the dry air of a rooftop fifty metres below. The second gangster gets up from their comrade's corpse and looks at her with bloodshot eyes.

"You... you'll pay!"

They point a gun at her immediately and

**BA N**

**G**

The surroundings darken.

Time is crawling.

She can see the bullet, barely a breath away from the barrel that fired it. It's as slow as she wants it to be right now. She could sidestep it with ease; or even just leave, without retaliating.

Instead, she swings,

**C L A NG!!!!**

**deflecting it right back through her victim's head.**

A cut-short scream.

_THUMP!_

Now there's two on the floor, nobody to mourn them. Lifeless.

The winds are howling. She brushes her cheek with her thumb, then jumps down from the ledge. She flows; past each building, across all the gravel and cement, onto the metal; into the tunnel. The city's navy night disappears for near-pitch black, until only a flourescent light on the ceiling reveals her.

**rring rring rring**

_blip_

"ZERO. Are you nearly there?"

"Almost," she responds.

"Good. We don't have much time, so we've got to be as efficient as possible."

"Go on."

"The hostage should be somewhere in this factory; it's the scientist in your dossier. You need to rescue him and return him alive."

"Anything else?"

"Well... they've made it clear." A breath. " **...Leave no survivors.** "

"Got it." She turns the ph- 

"Ah, wait a sec, ZERO!" 

"...What? We're on a timer."

"I-I just... wanted to say sorry. From the sound of it, they're trying to be thorough, so we can't have any potential witnesses. I know you're used to this kind of work, but-"

 **"Stop worrying, Psych.** I heard you the first time."

ZERO approaches the reinforced steel door, resting a hand on its turnwheel. She pushes it open, grinding it across the ground. Neon floods her vision.

"Besides. Even if it wasn't an order..."

She looks back.

_**"...I probably wouldn't spare them anyway."** _

_GGGGRCLANK!_

The door shuts.

**=== KATANA:ZERO ===**


	2. Chapter 1 - Coasting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now with art too! https://twitter.com/akorinkolesbian/status/1340872320886468615

...

...

...

_chk_

Darren Korb's 'Coasting'.

She puts the MP3 player into her pocket and starts planning.

Most of the walls aren't papered or painted over; they're a massive network of pipes and metallic infrastructure instead. That combined with the violet lighting means the blood she spills isn't going to be as immediately conspicuous. The factory's mostly hallways; though once she starts investigating, there might be a few wider rooms too. As for the gang members...

...They look pretty clumsy compared to the two outside.

Here goes.

ZERO sprints with her body low to the ground.

"Who-"

**SH HRK!**

She grabs the ledge above and throws herself over the railing, connecting her blade to his neck in less than an instant.

 _Bash!_

Another goon hears and kicks through the nearby door, aiming at her. "Hands u-"

**SLICE!**

He's dead. "H-hey, wai-"

She slips behind his friend.

**SLLICE!**

Across the back. The little office is painted red. 

Boring, but it should work. Next hallway.

"Hey, wanna know a secret about this factory?"

"Uh... sure. What is it?"

ZERO opens the door. At that moment, the first goon grins, swiping an ID card at a reader; and 3 hefty turrets start rising from the ground. "It made GUNS-"

She stabs him in the back.

Second goon jumps. "W-when'd you-"

**SLI CE!**

The pipes are caked in crimson. She swings her blade through every turret from behind, breaking them down. That should work-

**BANG BANG B A N G**

"...!"

Time crawls.

...She's lucky she can activate that ability on reflex. So, who's the culprit? Ah; there's another turret at the back of the hall.

She speeds in.

**C L A N G**

**C L A N G**

**C L A N G**

One of the deflected bullets jams the turret. Time flows again.

**SLASH!!!**

It breaks down. Boring, and she wasted some of her drug like an idiot, but it should work. Next hallway.

"He's a top government dog! Whatever crazy shit he's on, I'm having some!"

"Piss off! I found him first, so he's mine!"

"...Then you're gay."

"Wha- _you_... boss, he just fuckin' called me g-"

Oh, infighting. Convenient.

**STTABB!!**

One down. "GAY RICKIE!!! NOOOO!!!!"

**SLICE!**  
**SLICE!**

Slashed in the gut, slashed in the chest; that makes three. The last one cracks his knuckles; "Heh, thanks for clearing-"

**SLLICE!**

Confidently, he attempts to block the blade with his hand. He dies instantly.

Boring, but it should work. Where next? ...Let's try that staircase. The corridor above's got a few damaged lights.

Bingo. 3 guards.

**SLICE**

**SLICE**

roll behind, rip it through the body,

**STTABB!!**

Blood lurches the floor. This is a lot easier than she thought it'd be. The gang behind this kidnapping evidently can't afford more than one gun per dispatch.

**BANG-**  
**CLANG!!**

She deflects the turret's first bullet, landing a bullseye and disabling it. 

"W-who's there?"

Hey, someone upstairs noticed.

**SLLIIICE!**

She leaps and strikes from below, dropping back down as her victim's upper half hits the ledge. There's a scream; then more footsteps from above; then she leaps up again;

**SLICE!**

And that makes two. 

...She walks up the stairs. That's all of them, huh? Even a minimum-effort bait works on this lot. Briskly, she heads into the neon corridor, walks past the dented monitor, busts open the door at the end and enters a dusty, closed-off room.

"Hrghk..."

Found him.

He's bloody and beaten. Probably knows a few secrets if he's ended up like this. But that's none of her business; he's alive, and everyone else is dead. That's as far as her job goes. She didn't even have to slow time more than twice, so that's good. "Hahah... if you're looking for the pizza, they took it all when they le-"

 **"Hey,"** she interrupts, cutting his shackles, "we gotta go. Now."

The scientist blinks faintly in realisation. "R-right." He manages to get up. "Thanks... I think I can still move. Let's get out of here."

ZERO nods.

Back into the hallway; hopefully he won't waste time staring at the corpses. Doesn't matter too much, since there's little that can threaten him, but she'd like it if she got this done quickly.

"H-hhr?! Hragh...!"

...Did he collapse already? He's pretty frail-

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEP_

**-Oh, shit.**

**BOOM!!!!!!**

ZERO leaps back as the scientist's body parts splatter the hall. 

...

Well, now she's fucked.

She turns the music off. Sheesh. How did she not find that explosive? Was it jammed inside his neck or something? Pretty interesting way to go about it-

**"HAAAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-HAH!!!!!!!"**

...Suddenly static's pouring from the nearby corridor; probably loud enough to rip a person's eardrums. The monitor that's just turned on in there has to be the source.

Sure enough, when ZERO walks out, there's a face gleefully looking through the screen. It's some bulky mobster whose eyes're redder than the blood on the wall. "That was such an easy read, I wouldn't even put it on a montage! Every single one of you elo-hungry lowlives just got **PLAYED!** "

She's like, three centimetres away from the camera. Hard to get a full impression of. But the blaring fangs, the boisterous smirk, the long purple hair that's slicked back on one half of the fringe and adorned with skull hairpieces on the other; this person's a loudmouth, at the very least.

"Pretty juicy kaboom, right~? Remote bomb versus republican; that's a 9:1 matchup, motherfuckers. I broke his bones like they were fuckin' Doritos!" 

The loudmouth chugs a Mountain Dew, tosses it, and runs a hand through her hair, glaring at the screen before continuing to boast. From the looks of it, this is a pre-recorded videotape. 

"What's the matter? Crying 'cause you can't beat the tech outta him? Or are you just pissed at us? Too bad; I knew all you spineless pieces of shit'd crawl this place left and right after we spread the rumour, so me and the girls cleared out and left you to fight for the scraps!"

...They left? That means she's just been cutting up a bunch of smaller, irrelevant gangs, instead of the gang her employers're actually concerned about.

Huh. 

"Why not check his corpse? Who knows, maybe he's got some secret government weapon inside his viscera! **AAAHHAHAHAHAH!!!** "

The monitor shuts off. ZERO hears footsteps soon after; "Find the body! Maybe he had a diary or some shit!"

These guys're actually falling for it. They really are just small-time thugs.

"...Hey! Who're you?!"

"Bet you anything she's with that purple fuck who killed him!"

"Get her! Maybe she knows something!"

Well, whatever. 'Leave no survivors.' It's not her job today to care about names or faces. 

**SLL AAASHH-SASSHHH-SASSHHH!!**

She cleaves with her katana, slaughtering them all in one swing. That should be everyo-

**_BANG!_ **

There's a hole in ZERO's head.

...The turret. It's functioning again.

She's sent flying backwards. Two more bullets open up her ribs as she falls, spilling her blood across the floor. Then, with a thump on the ground and a crack, 

she stops moving.

**No, that won't work.**

**< <<<<**

Dying's pointless.

**< <<<<<**

She's tried to relish it before. Usually by chance. Sometimes deliberately. She's tried slowing down time to experience every millisecond of an axe's sharper end, snaking through her body from head to toe.

**< <<<<<**

But it was all a waste. It's not even worth the smidgen of dopamine.

Because dying means she has to use _more_ of her drug.

**< <<<<<  
<<<<<<<<<**

The corridor above's got a few damaged lights.

"...Tch. I messed up."

She's alive. Back in time, without a scratch. The sole difference's _the depletion of the drug_... ugh, so much for only having to slowdown twice.

She's not repeating that mistake, though. "No more slowdowns," ZERO husks, "and **no. More. Rewinds. Or else."**

Race forward,

**SLASHH!!!**

and the first 3 guards die again.

**SLICE**

**SLICE!!**

Doesn't feel any more interesting than the first time. Next, the turret:

**BANG BANG**

**CLANG!  
CLLANG!!**

She leaps up, deflects two bullets and tears it down from the ceiling. "H-hey! Over there!"

Land at the top of the staircase, roll under;

**SLASHH!!!**

Blood's re-spilt. One guard left. This pair wasn't worth a stealth approach. "Oh, shit-"

She cuts him in two.

_Slam!_

Door's open. The scientist sees her approach; "Hahah... if you're looking for the pizza, they took it all when they le-"

"I can't diffuse that bomb. You're dead either way."

**SLICE!**

His head flies off before he can respond. Now, step back, wait a second or two, and...

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEP_

**BOOM!!!!!!**

There. ZERO leaves the room. Once his parts paint the walls enough, she hears that confident laugh from the monitor again; so, the bomb was probably motion-trigger, and the videotape was set to play once it went off. In other words, she had no way of getting that scientist out. Her employers've been had. Not that it'll make her failure more acceptable in their eyes... but it's not like there's anything she can do about it, 'cept pray she'll get the drug. Fun, isn't it?

Anyway, the stragglers are the only threat left in this factory. Where are they?

"What the fuck do you mean, he's dead?! You bitch!"

She walks around the corner and sees a second monitor getting uselessly punched. There.

**SLASH!**

Cut against the wall.

**SLASH!**

Thrown to the side.

**SLASsSASH!**

Dug all the way down.

She leaves the broken monitor awash in blood; probably just as that loudmouth wanted.

Mission's over.

\---

_Good job getting through today, ZERO._

_Our employers aren't happy about the scientist dying, but don't fret over it._

_Just make sure you're ready for the next mission. Oh, and..._

_...are you at the usual spot?_

ZERO lifts her head from the tap, rinsing the blood from her beige hair.

Her post-job routine's got two parts. First, she heads to this leaf-ridden back-alley in the Chinatown section of the 3rd District, cleans up, and blends in. Second, she heads straight home, hands in her pockets; katana hilt tucked beneath the elbow. There's no variance.

That's why she's confused when she sees someone with long, untied brown hair and a lab coat, standing under a flickering lamppost in the alleyway's exit.

It's her 'Psychiatrist'.

"I thought you'd be here!"

...For a second, she doesn't respond. She's never seen this person outside the office before.

"You don't look as menacing when you're soaked..."

"What do you want?" ZERO asks.

"Hey, it's nothing ulterior!"

"..."

"I'm not here for business, don't worry," Psych laughs. "I just wanted to buy you something. Heading straight home after every mission's gotta be boring, right?"

Most things're dull to her. This included. Psych's motives are always obvious.

"C'mon, follow me." The Psychiatrist starts walking. "See that cafe at the end of the alleyway? It's actually pretty nice!"

...She didn't realise that stall in the corner was a cafe. She doesn't really care, either. But she sits down at the outdoor counter when she's offered a seat, getting an involuntary look at the rest of the moonlit Chinatown; dusty, silent, and littered with abandoned shops. The only people she can see out there are two drunk old men:

"What a fucking ditch. No wonder this place stopped getting business."

"Works for me. Those snowflakes probably took one look at our *hic* warhead and ran back home!"

"Hahaha!"

"Lost in thought~?"

ZERO turns back to her Psych.

"Gotta go. Sorry, I'm busy in the evenings too. But I figure sometimes I could meet you here, and leave you with a drink before I head out. Sounds nice, right? You always take this route back anyway."

"..."

"Here." A ten-dollar bill's placed on the counter. "It's on me. Have a good night~!"

Then the Psychiatrist leaves. 

...ZERO looks at the stall. She finds herself face-to-face with a waiter whose welding helmet covers their entire head.

Fine. Whatever. If it means she can get the drug each day, she'll play along. "Something without caffeine or alcohol."

\---

Home. 

Three rooms, cracks everywhere. Suits her almost as much as her name. She never found anything worth decorating it with; the walls're barren stone, the living room's a shitty couch plus TV, and the kitchen's a fridge, counter and sink. There's two dusty ceiling lamps between them.

That's all. 

She's had hobbies, but none of them lasted. The mold from the rain that's pouring outside is the most standout thing about this place, and she'd only really care about that if there was a leak.

ZERO kicks a clump of grass out, shuts the rickety door behind her and locks it, taking a brief look at nothing before ambling into the kitchen. There's rave music screaming through the walls from next door over; it's probably as loud for the rest of the neighbours as it is for her. Tonight's pretty peaceful if it's the only thing she can hear other than the rain, though. 

Sighing, she treads to the kitchen and devours her daily purchase of the only good food this world has to offer: The legendary Dutch Crunch Baguette. Then she collapses onto the couch, places her katana in front of the armrest, and turns on the TV.

_'...20 found gruesomely dead, at an abandoned factory in the 3rd District. Currently, there are no identified suspects...'_

"What's the point of watching this every evening?"

ZERO looks down.

Sitting on the stone floor next to the couch is a small child with a red streak in her black hair, wearing an oversized cardigan whose design expresses an adamant hatred of peas. She's staring at ZERO with orchid eyes.

"...It's to pass the time."

"Looks pretty boring," IF says. "What about that anime you had under the shelf? Where'd it go?"

"The incinerator."

"Like you did with all your manga?" IF yawns, like a normal child probably would. "Isn't there anything else to do?"

"Nothing interesting," she responds. "I just watch TV until I feel like sleeping."

"You don't like sleeping either, though."

"..." ZERO leans up. "...It'll be fine. I'm on the drug. The nightmares won't come."

"Good. I don't like them either."

_'...Based on examination of the crime scene, police believe the culprit may have been the infamous serial killer known as The Dragon...'_

"Hey. They're talking about you again. That factory was your mission today, wasn't it?"

ZERO doesn't respond.

"Don't ignore me." IF tries to tug on her sleeve. "Where's the bread, jerkface? Did you eat it all already?"

"Yup."

"Phooey. You're the worst adult ever."

"...It's not like you could eat it anyway."

"Why's that?"

"Because you're imaginary."

...

_'In other news; a spotlight showdown! It's the people's hero, Strong Tomoe, versus arm-wrestling's rising star!'_

"For someone who's imaginary," IF says, "I sure get a lot of chances to talk with you."

"I need ways of passing the time."

"Sure there's nothing more to it than that?"

She slumps back down. "Why do kids ask so many questions these days?"

"You tell me."

"...Touche."

ZERO blinks, making IF disappear. Then she blinks, making IF reappear. It's convenient, having a 'friend' like this. Nothing matters if you're just talking to yourself.

...She yawns. Fuck it, she's tired enough. 

_'In other news... the Mecca government unveils its latest ICBMs, boasting an effective range superior to every other country...'_

ZERO closes her eyes. "Go to sleep, IF."

"G'night, jerk," she thinks in response.


End file.
